BALANGA CITY, Bataan -- Bound to be the next think tank force of the country, 64 high school students in Bataan passed in the highly coveted college scholarship program of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).
In the recently released results of the DOST scholarship examinations, 55 students qualified under RA 7687 which is for gifted students who belong to economically disadvantaged families, and nine succeeded under the Merit Program.
These 64 made it among the 413 4th year high school examinees in Bataan who took the DOST-Science Education Institute (SEI) Undergraduate Scholarship Competitive Examinations conducted nationwide last September 21, 2014.
Taking tougher science courses with agreement of working in the country after graduation, incoming and current DOST-SEI scholars will receive bigger stipends and other allowances starting school year 2015-2016.
Scholars who will enroll in Physics/Applied Physics, Geology, Mining Engineering, Agriculture and Fisheries courses will receive P6,000 monthly stipend from the previous P5,000.
Those who will enroll under DOST-SEI priority courses will receive P5,000 monthly stipend (from P4,000); book allowance of P10,000 per academic year (from P5,000); tuition fee subsidy of P10,000 (from P8,000); and MS/PE clothing allowance of P1,000 (from P500).
Orientation and contract signing of the RA 7687 qualifiers with DOST is scheduled on April 7 at the Audio-Visual Room of Bataan Peninsula State University-Main Campus, City of Balanga, Bataan.
According to DOST, the number of qualifiers this year reached an all-time high as 5,303 high school students clinched a slot in the country’s premier science scholarship program, up from last year’s 3,982.
DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said the scholarships will hugely help students to pursue their desired fields in science and mathematics in leading universities and colleges, setting the stage for them as key players in the country’s advance once they practice their professions four or five years from now.
“We are optimistic that these qualifiers will soon help us in creating S&T-based solutions for our many national concerns,” Montejo said. (Jose Mari M. Garcia)
